Welcome to Games That Weren't 64!
We cover Cancelled & Unreleased Video games for the Commodore 64 computer. A non-profit large archive dedicated to preserving lost games that were never released to the public, as well as prototypes and the odd preservation of released titles. Our aim to share history and stories from the developers, assets and more before it is too late. GTW has been preserving lost video game history since 1999.
Please Browse our archive and discover the many entries that we host and have saved over the years.
Latest News and Posts
Troll (C64) pre-release screen
Thanks to Dan Warren, here is yet another pre-release screen, this time from Palace Software’s 1988 Troll game.
There are some very minor graphic differences compared to the final version, including the score being on the opposite side and some slight differences in the main area. Scan courtesy of Stephen (Mort) Stuttard.
V pre-release screenshots
Thanks to Dan Warren, here are some pre-release screens from Ocean’s “V – The Game”.
Very small differences overall, just showing an earlier score panel. The game graphics seem to be at this point pretty solid. Scans courtesy of Stephen (Mort) Stuttard.
GTW64 update for April 2020
A few more updates to the site, which includes a number of new entries and various updates. Batman Returns in particular has been tidied up a bit, and i’ve added some much better and high quality screenshot scans, thanks to the amazing Stephen Stuttard.
There are some concept sketches from Ned Langman too for a few entries and details about yet another Lemmings conversion that was intended. Full updates are below:
4 new entries added
Catch’em, Lordlings of Yore, Reader’s Digest Software, Underland
16 updates added
Batman Returns, Big Top, Civilization, Elevator, Enemy, Exodus, Labyrinth, Legendary Deed, Lemmings V1, Nuker, Pet Person, Quest for Eternity, Star Force Seven, Stellar 7, Warcraft 64, Worms
Lemmings early screens (C64)
Flicking through the last issue of Zzap!64 back in late 1992, I rediscovered an early screenshot and the first to be shown of the Commodore 64 version of Lemmings. It would be a year until the final game saw release.
Looking at the constructed screenshot, it seems this was a test level, as I think there are more lemmings on the screen than the C64 version eventually allowed, plus usually you only get the floater icon on this level. Also at this stage the shading is quite simple, and the graphics may have been quickly wired at this stage from the Amiga. Or is it even just a quick mock up?
The Sporting News Baseball (C64) – Early screen
Contributor Mathew Chakko flagged up that “The Sporting News Baseball” game by Epyx Software in 1988 was advertised with a panel area that had a number of differences compared to the final game. Here it is:
Now compare to the screenshot from Gamebase64:
There is a MPH meter and also what seems to be a wind direction line too? Very minor differences from what was probably just a slightly earlier build used to screenshot. Interesting though to see :) Continue reading
GTW64 update for March
Another month and another update at GTW64, with a number of new entries and updates that we’ve been adding since the last. Hope everyone is well, and keep safe in these strange times.
8 new entries added
Bugs in buggyland, Civilization, Elevator, King Of The Air, Labyrinth, Milliways: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Sagan om ringen, Warcraft 64
29 updates added
3 Days In Carpathia, Andromeda 3, Anteater, Beavers, Bomber Clot, Cargo run, Catch 23, Chelsea of the South Sea, Club Jr’s, Dr Who and the Warlord, Dragonstone 2, Dune Buggy, Gauntlet 3, Ground Zero, Hard Drivin’ V1, Lauren of the 25th Century, Old Scores, Pony Express, Populous, Quest for Eternity, Snow Bros, Super Scramble, The Greedy Dwarf, The Search For Sharla, The Tripods, Toby’s Rescue, White Feather Cloak, Worms
Games That Weren’t book sneak peak + update
Our publisher Bitmap Books have just released a bit more detail in their latest newsletter about the upcoming Games That Weren’t book, including a sneak peak at how its shaping up, so here is a bit of a preview for you:
Giving an illustrated snapshot of a wide range of unreleased games from 1975 to 2015, The Games That Weren’t includes titles across a variety of arcade, home computer, console, handheld and mobile platforms spread across 644 pages. Many games are expanded upon in detail, with those involved sharing their untold stories and recollections, as well as attempting to solve some mysteries along the way. Assets and screenshots are shown for most titles, some never seen until now. In the case of games that don’t have anything to show, there are specially created artist’s impressions, giving a unique visual interpretation of what could have been.
For more updates, you can subscribe to Bitmap Books’ newsletter here.
First update of 2020
In hoping to bring back more regular updates now the book nears conclusion and publication in a few months, here is the first GTW update of 2020, including a new Vic 20 section. This update includes a bunch of new entries highlighted by Peter Weighill, which I had stupidly missed for the Christmas update.
12 new entries added
Advanced Arcadeware 4 Pack, Anteater, Cargo run, Creepy Corridors, Double Dragon V1, Geister, Monkeybuilder, Phoenix Lair, Sphinx, Typo, Wheeler Dealers, “‹Stratos
12 updates added
Adam Caveman, Albedo, Amazon Tales, Capitaly, Escape From Colditz, Guardians Of Time, Hangman, Joust, Megatree, Mumbles – Superspy, Super Scramble, Unnamed helecopter game
New Commodore Vic 20 page
Something i’ve wanted to do for a while, and got prompted again after a discussion with Mat Allen and seeing news that a Hungry Horace game existed for the Vic 20. Something that will hopefully grow into more in the future:
Games That Weren’t Christmas update 2019
Well, another year has passed and when preparing for this update, I realised that it had been almost 12 months since the last full update. Sorry about that! Hopefully reasons are now a lot clearer as to why that was! :)
Once the dust settles a bit, then we will be back in full trying to recover and preserve more lost C64 titles and make up for lost time. We are also starting to create and add videos to some of the entries as something a bit extra.
Many thanks to all our contributors for this update, including in particular Fabrizio Bartoloni, Csaba Virag, Hedning/GP and Jazzcat who contributed a lot to this update and for Vinny Mainolfi for all his support. All the best for 2020 and hope you enjoy the update! Continue reading
Derick Boorman disks
Just a very short post to host some demo/hack disks that I found in Level Up games in Canterbury on some old C64 disks.
They seem to be credited to a Derick Boorman who lived in Kent and hacked around a bit with some old C64 demos, changing scrolltexts etc.
Please note, these were probably done when the author was very young – so the credit changes to themselves can be ignored. I did similar lame things when I was probably around their same age!
We managed to find Derick thanks to Gerard Sweeney, and they confirmed that it was them and their work. They didn’t recall much, but remember passing on their C64 to their nephew when moving over to the Amiga around 1990/1991. Derick also used to frequent in Computer World in Canterbury, and suggests we should bin any other disks we find ;-)
In case you want to see something a bit different, here are the disk images for posterity:
